Sousaphone storage stand



Aug. 11, 1959 P. o. RAUK SOUSAPHONE STORAGE STAND Filed Jan. 17, 1956 Fig. 4

P l er R u INVENTOR ATTORNEY Ufl d t e Pa SOUSAPHONE STORAGE STAND Palmer 0. Rank, North St. Paul, Minn. ApplicationJanuary 17, 1956, Serial No. 559,693

' v 4 Claims. or. 2'4'8 -1'63) This invention and improvement relates to a sousaphone storage stand. More particularly the invention concerns the provision of a convenient sousaphone stand for protectively storing the uncased instrument and its fixtures.

The present and long standing problems of standing, leaning or laying a sousaphone against or on a chair, wall or table is well known to the owners thereof. For example, in the classroom and on the stage when the sousaphone is laid aside it is subject to being tripped over, tipped and bumped, and consequently dented and damaged. Also the instrument is exposed to handling and being blown into by others. Further, for resting, display and storage purposes the bell end is oftentimes tipped up and collects dirt and dust and affords a temptation into which objects are thrown.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a convenient sousaphone stand which suspends the bell end downwardly and in raised position relative to a bare support.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved and convenient structure for displaying and storing a sousapohne with its weight centered and in protected relationship from bumping with other like stored instruments, and with the tube arrangement positioned so that the instrument can be easily shouldered and carried.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sousaphone stand which enables the instrument to be hung with the tubing and valves turned to the back and the separable mouth piece and instrument fixtures conveniently stored on the support.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side plan view of my sousaphone stand.

Figure 2 is a front plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side plan view of the fixture and tube support.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a partial top plan View through lines 55 of Figure 2.

In the description like parts will be similarly indicated. As every instructor and sousaphone player is aware, the cumbersome handling of sousaphones by students and players in laying the instrument aside oftentimes causes damage to occur. Further, in storing these instruments, in the absence of casings, the bell is used as the stand or otherwise the bell and tubing are propped or rested against some object from which it may fall, or other like instruments may be in close relationship to fall thereagainst with resultant damages. In order to prevent such careless handling and awkward storing, when the sousaphone is not in use, I have provided the stand A.

This stand A consists of a pair of exact like sides formed for example, by similarly bending two elongated light tubular pipe sections and 11. The pipe 11, for

2,899,163 Patented Ass: .1. 5.9

example, is illustrative in that the short foot section 12, from bend 13, forms a base and the long upright leg section 14 forms one side of a forwardly tipped standard when wedged into aperture 15 in block 16. The pipe 10 is similarly bent with the short foot section 17 and upright forwardly tipped side 18 which is wedged into aperture 19 in block 16.

The apertures 15 and 19 are bored or countersunk at an inverted V. angle to mount the ends of upright 10 and 11 therein when the parts are assembled. This block 16 is contoured to provide an attractive platform with a thick rear body section and a relatively thinner frontal section 23 extending slightly forwardly of the exact center of the foot sections 12' and 17'. The rear body section 22 of block 16 is of a suflicintly' large size to accommodate the apertures 15- and 19' in: the bottom side and a plurality of different sized apertures 24',- 2-5, 26 and 27 in the top surface or side. These apertures 24, 25, 26 and 27 provide holes of a size to mount the mouth piece, two tuning bits and neck fixtures of a sousaphone. By the provision of such apertures the removal of the fixtures from the sousaphone ceases to be a problem, particularly for students who otherwise usually fail to keep these parts separated.

The forward or frontal section 23 of block 16 is provided with an angularly positioned groove 29 within which is secured, by a suitable adhesive, a felt pad 31 The grove 29 is cut on an angle and to a size which permits the inner rounded tube portion of the instrument to lodge therein and suspend the sousaphone bell centered in balanced relationship over and between the base and uprights, as described.

Taking Figure 2 in conjunction with Figure 3 it will be recognized that by positioning the upright sections 14 and 18 equally into apertures 15 and 19, respectively, and then fastening the uprights together by a U-shaped base bar 32 the block 16 will be wedged tightly into the uprights. The U-shaped bar 32 is provided with parallel leg sections 33 and 34 which are fastened by pairs of conventional bolts 35 and 36 to the foot sections 17 and 12, respectively.

The connecting section 37 of bar 32 forms a back support with the side supporting foot sections 12 and 17 of relatively sturdy rectangular configuration with the critical approximate length for each section being not less than 28 inches. The vertical height of the inverted V formed by the juncture or at the apex of the uprights raises the top surface of the block 16 to a critical approximate height of not less than 59 inches. In these relatively critical dimensions the stands can be arranged in a side by side relationship to store a number of sousaphones in side by side balanced relationship. The instruments are thus suspended clear of the floor and the stands do not easily tip in the event the hanging instruments should be bumped and accidentally rocked on the supporting block 16 swinging the bell through a wide arc.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my sousaphone storage stand and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: I

l. A sousaphone storage stand comprising a pair of acute angle members including a horizontal foot portion and an upwardly and forwardly inclined leg portion in each member, a block support adapted to engage a section of the sousaphone to be stored having a pair of downwardly diverging apertures therein for the reception of the upper ends of said leg portions to thereby tenance of said diverging angle.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said spacing means includes a horizontal U-shaped cross bar extending transversely between said angle members adjacent the =junc ture of said footand leg portions;

3. A sousaphone storage stand comprising a pair of similar standards each including a base portion and an upright portion bent at an acute angle to said base portion, the base portions being substantially parallel and the upright portions converging together to form an inverted substantially V-shaped support, a cross member connecting said base portions near their point of connection with said upright portions, a block connecting the upper ends of said upright portions and having a substantially flat upper surface, and a groove in said flat upper surface designed to accommodate the ring tube of a sousaphone therein. a

4. The structure of claim 3 and in which said block is substantially rectangular in plan outline with two sides of the block generally parallel to the base portions of said standards, and in which the groove is at an acute angle to said block sides.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 377,282 Wiederer Ian. 31, 1888 478,646 Sencenbaugh et a1. July 12, 1892 511,367 Slater Dec. 26, 1893 1,238,571 Rosenthal Aug. 28, 1917 1,900,718 Lang Mar. 7, 1933 2,096,349 Moxley Oct. 19, 1937 2,620,188 Malagio Dec. 2, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 162,888 Great Britain May 12, 1921 

